Fabric tensioning mechanism



Sept. 18, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' Filed Feb. 5. 1954 m m n K Q1 u M I J.

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P 1956 E. s'r. PIERRE 2,763,145

FABRIC TENSIONING MECHANISDM Filed Feb. 3. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UnitedStates Patent (3 FABRIC TENSIONINGMECHANISM.

Eugene St. Pierre, Pawtucket, R: L, 'assignor to' Hemphill Company,'Pawtucket, R; 1., a-corporation of- Massa chusetts.

Application Februaryfi, 1954, Serial. N0., 407,'8371 6 Claims... ('Cl'.66-150) necessary to -exert tension onthefabric ofihmtoeppcket;

of the dash knit stocking,while .the.,rib top.-of..itssuccessor is knitin. order to compensate for. the... unequal ,pull. of: thefabric tak'eupwhich pulls v.on. the. instep half of thet stocking directly from the.needles but. is prevented frome. applyingthe same. tension to the. otherhalf of. the fabric.

becauseof the. loose. toepocketlyingbetween it and. the...

needles... This. tension. is als,o..necessary ..to ;aid -the. rib-.:needles, either dial or upper cylinder, in casting off their stitches,and. to prevent the; ribloops innthe wales above the loose toe packetfrom catchingin. needle hooks or latches. It has been common practice inthe knitting art to. use some formof toe-pocket :pushemto provide thisrequired tensionp I The .object' of.-thepresent'inventiomis to provide-afabric tensioningndevice ortoe-pocket pusher which will be moredependable in operation than those of the prior art. This isaccomplished by providing the toe pocket pusher with fabric engagingelements and inserting a fabric guiding member within the needlecylinder which is slotted to accommodate the fabric engaging elements. Asafety lock is included to prevent damage to the mechanism if withdrawalis attempted when the pusher is extended down inside the needlecylinder.

A preferred embodiment of the invention as applied to a circular,independent needle, knitting machine of the dial and cylinder type willbe explained with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the mechanism;

Figure 2 is an interior view of part of the fabric guiding cylinder;

Figure 3 is a top view of a partial section along the lines 3-3 ofFigure 1;

Figure 4 is a top view of the pusher rod guide.

Figure 5 is a perspective of part of the pusher rod operating mechanism;

Figure 6 is a perspective of a continuation of the same mechanism; and

Figure 7 is a side view of the safety lock mechanism.

The mechanism of Fig. 1 represents the invention as employed in aconventional dial rib machine of the Banner type. A needle bearingcylinder 1 is bolted to a rotatable ring gear 2 in the circular base(not shown) of the machine and has a dial 3 rotatable with a shaft 4which turns in a bearing (not shown) on the dial cam plate 5.

The shaft 4 is hollow to accommodate a pusher rod 6. This permits therod 6 to move a toe pocket pusher 7 which is fixed to the bottom end ofthe rod up and down within the needle cylinder in a manner, and by amechanism, later to be described.

The pusher 7 has a number of fabric engaging elements 8 secured to it.In the embodiment shown, these elements consist of needle-like.membersswhich are. ad-

justably securedto .the main body of thespusher byasetscrews. 9.These-elements 8.engage the loose fabric of the toe pocket. and, due vto the weight of the pusher, exert aidirecttension on the loops as-theyare formed on-gtheneedles.

To ensure that the members Swill engage thefabric, a

fabric guiding member 10:is provided. In the present instance,thisfabric guide consists of a cylindrical sleeve which ismounted-concentricallywithin; the .needle bear ing, cylinder 1.

the ring gear. 2 by screws 12..

The fabric guiding; sleeve 10 isprovided .with a num-- ber. of. slots.14 .(Fig. 2), one. for each of the fabric engaging elements 8. Thepurposeofithese slots is,-to assurethat the points of theelements 8 willnot be bentordamaged by impact against the sleeve, 10 and consequentlybecome less effective or damage the fabric.

Theslots.;-15,(Fig 3) 111112116 underlip '13 -of the fabric guidingsleevea10, through: which-it -is fastenedto theconnectingring, 11, areelongated-to permit a certain;

amount .of. adjustment-of the sleeve 10. to align the slots- 14 withthefabric-engaging elements 8,

Thev pusher rod 6. is flat and passes througha rectangu-,

lanopening; 16in: the rod guiding member 17 WhiChglS is rotating, withthe. needle cylinder.

not somev other part of the stocking.-

As referred to above, if the fabric pusher 7 is allowed? to-.fall.;freely .atthe. proper .time, .its needle-like elements 8williengagethe fabric .of the. toepocket andtheweight. of .the pusherTwill take. up. the. slack.-..i1i...the .pocket .and exert a steadyuniform tension on the corresponding cyl-a inder and dial loops as theyare formed 'on' the knitting needles. As more and more courses of ribfabric are knit, the pusher element 7 falls deeper into the needlecylinder. After the rib top is completed or the fabric has become longenough so that the toe pocket reaches the regular takeup (not shown),the tensioning action of the fabric pusher is no longer required and itis returned to its initial position at the top of the cylinder,immediately below the dial, as shown in dotted lines in Figure l.

The mechanism for raising the pusher 7 to this position is shown inFigures 5 and 6. It includes a cam 18 on a drum 19, a rocker 20 which isoperated by the cam 18, and a series of associated rods and levers.

The top of the pusher rod 6 is held by a bracket 21 which is carried bya lever 22 and its extensions 23. The lever 22 is supported on thecarrier ring 24 by a combination of brackets 25 and 26. It is pivoted onbracket 26 at 27 by the action of a rod 28. Rod 28, in turn, isreciprocated longitudinally by a centrally pivoted lever 29 which isoperated by the rocker 20 through -a connecting rod 30. When the nose ofrocker 20 rides up onto a cam 18 on the drum 19, its tail exerts adownward thrust on the rod 30. This pivots the lever 29 so as to exertan upward thrust on the rod 28, thereby pivoting the lever 22 at 27 soas to raise its extensions 23 and thus raise the rod 6 and pull pusher 7to the top of the needle cylinder.

The carrier ring 24 is hinged at 31 so that the dial and its associatedmechanism can be swung back from the top of the cylinder to permitaccess thereto or independent knitting thereon. However, if the dialwere swung back while the rod 6 is extended down inside the cylinder 1,the pusher element 7 would not clear the fabric guiding element 10within the cylinder and a bent Ratented Sept. 1 8,1 956.

A- connecting ring ll-fastened to the; fabric guide 10 issecured to the.needle. cylinder 1 and;

rod 6, along with damage to the fabric pusher 7, or the fabric guide 10,would result. To protect against this, the safety lock shown in Figuresand 7 is provided.

This safety lock comprises a stud 32 in the tail of the carrier ring 24behind the hinge 31. A latch 33 pivoted on a bracket 34 which is securedto the frame of the machine is held by a spring 35 so as to be normallyin engagement with the stud 32 and thereby prevent the carrier ring 24from being swung backwards from the top of the cylinder 1. When,however, the nose of rocker 20 is riding on a cam 18 and rod 30 isconsequently pulled downwards to raise the rod 6 and pusher element 7 asdescribed above, a pin 36 at the junction of rod 30 and lever 29 bearsagainst the latch 33 and disengages it from the stud 32. This permitsthe carrier ring 24 to be rocked backward away from the cylinder 1 when,and only when, the rod 6 is clear of the needle cylinder 1 and thepusher element 7 is raised up close to the dial 3.

The invention has been described with reference to rib knitting on adial and cylinder machine, but it is equally applicable to two-cylindermachines and other fabric takeup and tensioning problems.

I claim:

1. In or for a circular, independent needle, knitting machine a needlebearing cylinder, a needle bearing dial having a passage therethrough, adial supporting member capable of being moved between a position wheresaid dial is proximate said cylinder and a position where it is moreremote from said cylinder, a fabric guiding member, a fabric pushingmember movable in relation to said fabric guiding member, said fabricpushing member being mounted on a pusher rod which passes through saidpassage in said dial so as to permit movement of said pushing elementbetween a high and a low position within said cylinder, and a lockingdevice acting upon said dial supporting member to prevent it from beingmoved to said remote position when said pushing element is in said lowposition.

2. The invention according to claim 1 and wherein means comprising aseries of levers and a cam operated fabric pushing element.

3. The invention according to claim 2 wherein said locking devicecomprises a latch and stud, and said latch is operated by one of saidpusher rod operating levers.

4. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said fabric pushing memberhas fabric engaging elements, and said fabric guiding member comprises acylindrical sleeve concentric with said needle bearing cylinder andhaving depressions to accommodate said fabric engaging elements.

5. In or for a circular, independent needle, knitting machine arotatable needle bearing c'ylinder, a fabric guiding member rotatablewith said cylinder, a rotatable fabric pushing member, a plurality ofopenings in and extending longitudinally of said fabric guiding member,a plurality of fabric engaging elements carried by said pushing member,means for aligning said elements with said openings, means for movingsaid pushing member longitudinally of said guiding member while both ofsaid members are rotating, and means for preventing relative motionbetween said guiding member and said pushing member.

6. In a circular, independent needle, knitting machine, a rotatableneedle bearing cylinder, a hollow shaft rotatable with said cylinder, adial fixed to the lower end of said shaft, a closure for the upper endof said shaft having a non-circular opening communicating with theinterior of said shaft, a rod having a longitudinally sliding fit withinsaid opening and extending through said shaft, a fabric pushing membersecured to said rod, fabric engaging elements carried by said pushingmember, a fabric guiding member within and rotatable with said cylinderand having longitudinal openings, and means for aligning said fabricengaging elements with said openings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS920,671 Scott et al May 4, 1909 2,345,698 Bromley et a1 Apr. 4, 19442,408,807 Norman Oct. 8, 1946 2,610,495 Diem Sept. 16, 1952

